Little legs, big adventures

Making walking fun and accessible for parents in Calderdale

Exploring the great outdoors with your little ones can be a joyful adventure, but it can also feel tricky if you’re not sure where to go. That’s where Little Legs comes in. Started by local mum Rebecca, Little Legs provides a selection of short, accessible, child-friendly walking routes across the Upper Calder Valley, making it simple for parents to enjoy fresh air, exercise, and quality time with their children.

Rebecca started walking with her own children and quickly realised that there were limited resources for safe, accessible, and well-planned routes. She set out to change that, creating walks that are not only practical and enjoyable, but also come with tried-and-tested tips to make walking as easy as possible for parents.

Now, in collaboration with Visit Calderdale and Active Calderdale, Little Legs is helping more families explore Calderdale’s beautiful parks and green spaces. The initiative specifically focuses on encouraging women and girls to use local spaces, linking with priority areas to make outdoor activities accessible and welcoming for parents.

The funding to work with Little Legs has meant we now have a collection of family-friendly walking routes across the whole of Calderdale which sit on the Visit Calderdale website (rather than being difficult to find on various different sites). We also know that people engage with walking in different ways, and so the resources have been designed so that people can access them in a way that suits them: either by following simple instructions, looking at a PDF map, or using the popular walking platform OS Maps.

Emily Stevenson (Senior Visitor Engagement Officer, Visit Calderdale

Why walking matters for parents

Walking with your children offers so many benefits, including:

1. A chance to exercise as a parent – one of the few ways to get moving with little ones in tow.

2. Accessible and free activities – all right on your doorstep.

3. Boosts children’s confidence and connection to nature – helping them explore and learn about the world around them.

4. Supports parental wellbeing – giving mums (and parents in general!) a mental reset and some “me time” outdoors.

As a female who has regularly wanted to get out and about with young children, there was a lack of easily accessible supportive and clear walking routes - taking into account things like prams and difficulty. These routes not only provide a step by step written guide, can be accessed free, but also provide times to complete, difficulty levels and even photos of stages of the walk.

Gemma Beckwith, Active Calderdale Project Manager - Parks and Green Spaces

Explore these family-friendly routes

Little Legs has now developed walks in our priority areas across Calderdale, including:

• Reins Wood, Rastrick

• Cromwell Bottom, Elland

• Wainhouse Tower, Kings Cross (Park ward)

• Ogden Water, Illingworth

• Dodgson Clough, Ovenden

• Hunter Hill, Mixenden

• High Sunderland, Boothtown

• Allan Park, Sowerby Bridge

• Wittonstall Clough, Cornholme

And there are many more routes outside these areas, all of which you can explore via Rebecca’s website or Instagram page.

Looking ahead

Rebecca is keen to expand Little Legs further, reaching new areas like North Halifax and developing a printed walks booklet to make these routes even more accessible. Her mission is simple: to help parents make walking with children easy, fun, and part of everyday life.

Whether you’re a local family or just visiting Calderdale, Little Legs offers the perfect way to discover green spaces, get active, and create lasting memories with your children.